Great post by Kevin Kelly that touches on alot of what ABV is about. In ABV terms, Kelly makes the case for why technology and a community of kindred spirits is enough to monetize and make a living. The intriguing part is that he says the community doesn’t need to be all that big. 1,000 True Fans—the people who love your stuff, talk about it, engage in whatever idea or product you are selling. A wonderful excerpt:

“The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. They are giving you their support directly. Maybe they come to your house concerts, or they are buying your DVDs from your website, or they order your prints from Pictopia. As much as possible you retain the full amount of their support. You also benefit from the direct feedback and love.

The technologies of connection and small-time manufacturing make this circle possible. Blogs and RSS feeds trickle out news, and upcoming appearances or new works. Web sites host galleries of your past work, archives of biographical information, and catalogs of paraphernalia. Diskmakers, Blurb, rapid prototyping shops, Myspace, Facebook, and the entire digital domain all conspire to make duplication and dissemination in small quantities fast, cheap and easy. You don’t need a million fans to justify producing something new. A mere one thousand is sufficient.

This small circle of diehard fans, which can provide you with a living, is surrounded by concentric circles of Lesser Fans. These folks will not purchase everything you do, and may not seek out direct contact, but they will buy much of what you produce. The processes you develop to feed your True Fans will also nurture Lesser Fans. As you acquire new True Fans, you can also add many more Lesser Fans. If you keep going, you may indeed end up with millions of fans and reach a hit. I don’t know of any creator who is not interested in having a million fans.”

It brought up the question of whether there’s a difference between a True Fan as he describes it and a vibrant community as I describe it. I think a vibrant community encompasses both True Fans and Lesser Fans.

See this interesting post on the analysis of on-line communities. Be sure to scroll down for the start of the article as my browser shows so much white space at the top, it looks like a blank page. The author states that on-line communities have three social rings–the most densely connected inner ring sounds like Kelly’s True Fans. They are the ones who "will stay and build the community….Although small, they are a powerful force of attraction."

What I gather from Kelly’s post and the analysis of on-line communities is that one should focus on developing the inner ring first. Creating the true fan is the most efficient way to building a community.

Kelly also talking about new ways to monetize your community–by having them fund your next project as creator. As in "when my tip jar gets to be $1,000, I’ll release the next chapter of my book."  Interesting concept.  A few pay for the benefit of the many, because they perceive that much value.

Okay, I’ll stop talking about the Kelly’s post. Get the full meal here.